Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University (LSU) is the flagship state university of Louisiana, located in Baton Rouge. LSU researchers have played major roles in researching the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and informing the media and the government of their findings. However, LSU is also the recipient of millions of dollars in grants from oil companies, including $10 million over 10 years from BP following the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Oil Industry Funding
LSU's School of the Coast and Environment has received a number of grants from the energy industry, including those listed below.

Grants from BP Exploration and Production, Inc. Totaling $497,695
 * Bob Gambrell, $39,768, Water Column Characterization of Selected Metals Associated with Crude Oil as a Tracer for Plume Movement from the Deepwater Horizon Site, Received June 30, 2010.
 * Chunyan Li, $114,999, Analysis of Masstive In Situ Data from Moorings and Ships for the Fate of Oil Spills and Dispersant and for Supporting Model Validation, received June 30, 2010
 * Donald Baltz, $249,298, Biological Impacts of Oil and Dispersant on Fish Fauna of Deep Waters: Assessing Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Event, received July 1, 2010
 * Mark Benfield, $56,090, Documenting impacts of the subsea plume using Gulf SERPENT ROV surveys, received June 30, 2010
 * Nan Walker, $37540, Satellite Remote Sensing of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Providing a Context for Shipboard Measurements, received June 30, 2010

Grants from the American Petroleum Institute Totaling $119,520
 * Ralph Portier, $119,520, Development of Risk Based Protocols for Removal of Flowline and Pipeline Infrastructure in Coastal Wetlands, 2007-2009

Grants from ConocoPhilips Totaling $19,998
 * Mark Benfield, $9,999, LSU-ConocoPhillips Zooplankton Project, 2006
 * Rick Shaw, $9,999, LSU-ConocoPhillips Ichthyoplankton Project, 2006

Grants from Exxon Mobil Totaling $17,100
 * Harry H. Roberts, $7,500, Remnants of an Early-Middle Holocene Mississippi River Delta Complex(es: Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Depositional History, 2010
 * Samuel Bentley, $9,600, Geochronology Investigations of Wax Lake Delta, 2002

Grants from the Gas Technology Institute Totaling $349,998
 * Harry Roberts, $349,998, Multicomponent and Multifrequency Seismic Assessment of Fluid-Gas Expulsion Geology and Gas Hydrates: Gulf of Mexico, 2003-2004

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Deepwater Horizon
 * BP
 * Edward B. Overton